GemMan
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Iraq Uncovers al-Qaeda 'Chemical Weapons Plot'-Terrorists Arrested
The militants allegedly built two facilities to produce sarin and mustard gas
The authorities in Iraq say they have uncovered an al-Qaeda plot to use chemical weapons, as well as to smuggle them to Europe and North America.
Defence ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said five men had been arrested after military intelligence monitored their activities for three months.
Three workshops for manufacturing the chemical agents, including sarin and mustard gas, were uncovered, he added.
Remote-controlled toy planes, believed were going to be used to distribute the chemicals, were also seized at the workshops.
Mr Askari said they were to have been used to release the chemical agents over the target from a "safe" distance of 1.5km (0.9 miles), reports the BBC's Rami Ruhayem in Baghdad.
All of the arrested men had confessed to the plot, and said they had received instruction from another al-Qaeda offshoot, he added.
As the defence ministry spokesman spoke on Iraqi TV, footage was shown of four men with black hoods on their heads, our correspondent adds. Three of them were wearing bright yellow jumpsuits and a fourth was in a brown jumpsuit.
All of the arrested men have allegedly confessed
Their arrests were possible because of co-operation between Iraqi and foreign intelligence services, Mr Askari said.
Chlorine bombs
Al-Qaeda in Iraq is believed the only offshoot of the Islamist militant network to have used chemical weapons.
It detonated a 16 crude chlorine bombs in Iraq between October 2006 and June 2007.
Chlorine inhalation made many hundreds of people sick, but no deaths resulting from exposure to the chemical were recorded, US officials said at the time. Instead, the bomb blasts are believed to have caused the fatalities.
At the time, US officials said al-Qaeda appeared to want to use debilitating agents like chlorine in their bombs to cause casualties beyond those hit by the initial explosion.
US and Iraqi troops subsequently killed or detained many of the militants who were building the chlorine-laced bombs and seized much of their stockpiled chemicals.
A letter written by the late al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden five days before he was killed in a US military raid in Pakistan in 2011 urged members of the group's offshoot in Yemen who he believed were considering using "poison" to be "careful of doing it without enough study of all aspects, including political and media reaction" -
3 Businesses That Go Together
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Chinese Hack US Weapon Systems-Australia Affected
Chinese Hackers Access U.S. Weapon Systems and Steal Blueprints to Australia’s New Spy HQ Months Before it has even Opened
- Hackers have 'compromised' U.S. designs for combat aircraft and ships
- More than two dozen U.S. weapons systems including F35 fighter have been stolen by Chinese hackers, claims Pentagon
- They also accessed missile defenses vital for Europe, Asia and the Gulf
- Floorplans of Australia Security Intelligence Organisation's new $630m headquarters have also been stolen - before it has even been opened
- China has dismissed claims it is connected to the latest cyber attacks
By Daily Mail UK, 29 May 2013
Chinese hackers have accessed designs for more than two dozen U.S. weapons systems and stolen the blueprints for Australia's new spy headquarters which hasn't even been opened yet.
These latest strikes come after months of numerous computer security breaches involving Chinese hackers as the ongoing cyber war between China and the West intensifies.
Hackers have now 'compromised' U.S. designs for combat aircraft and ships, as well as missile defenses vital for Europe, Asia and the Gulf, it has emerged.
Security risk: Chinese hackers have 'compromised' U.S. designs for its weapon systems and stolen the floorplans of Australia Security Intelligence Organisation's new HQ
Chinese hackers access U.S. weapon systems and steal blueprints...
The Washington Post learned of the breach from a Pentagon report prepared for the Defense Department by the Defense Science Board.
Among the weapons listed in the report were the advanced Patriot missile system, the Navy's Aegis ballistic missile defense systems, the F/A-18 fighter jet, the V-22 Osprey, the Black Hawk helicopter and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
The report did not specify the extent or time of the cyber-thefts or indicate if they involved computer networks of the U.S. government, contractors or subcontractors.
But the espionage would give China knowledge that could be exploited in a conflict, such as knocking out communications and corrupting data, the Post said. It also could speed Beijing's development of Chinese defense technology.
Chinese hackers stole plans for confidential United States weapons systems including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter pictured here
In a report to Congress earlier this month, the Pentagon said China was using espionage to modernize its military and that its hacking was a serious concern. It said the U.S. government had been the target of hacking that appeared to be 'attributable directly to the Chinese government and military'.
China has dismissed as groundless both the Pentagon report and a February report by the U.S. computer security company Mandiant, which said a secretive Chinese military unit was probably behind a series of hacking attacks targeting the United States that had stolen data from 100 companies.
Meanwhile, news reports in Australia claim hackers linked to China stole the floorplans of the $630 million headquarters for the Australia Security Intelligence Organisation, the country's domestic spy agency.
'Compromised': A V-22 Osprey pictured here is among the aircrafts for which plans were stolen
The attack through the computers of a construction contractor exposed not only building layouts, but also the location of communication and computer networks.
Australia security analyst Des Ball told the ABC in the report that such information made the yet to be completed spy headquarters vulnerable to future cyber attacks.
'You can start constructing your own wiring diagrams, where the linkages are through telephone connections, through wi-fi connections, which rooms are likely to be the ones that are used for sensitive conversations, how to surreptitiously put devices into the walls of those rooms,' said Ball.
The building is designed to be part of a global electronic intelligence gathering network which includes the United States and the UK, but its construction has been plagued by delays and cost blowouts, with some builders blaming late design changes on cyber attacks.
The ABC report said the Chinese hacking was part of a growing wave of cyber attacks against business and military targets in the close U.S. ally.
It said the hackers also stole confidential information from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which houses the overseas spy agency the Australian Secret Intelligence Service and had targeted local companies, including steel-manufacturer Bluescope Steel, and military and civilian communications manufacturer Codan Ltd.
Chinese hackers allegedly associated with the country's government stole United States missile plans for weapons such as Patriot missile batteries (pictured here)
The influential Greens party said the hacking was a 'security blunder of epic proportions' and called for an inquiry, but the government refused to confirm the breach.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the reports were 'inaccurate', but declined to say how.
Australian officials, like those in the United States and other Western nations, have made cyber attacks a security priority following a growing number of attacks of the resource rich country, mostly blamed on China.
Despite being one of Beijing's major trade partners, the country is seen by China as the southern fulcrum of the U.S. military pivot to the Asia-Pacific and in 2011 agreed to host thousands of U.S. Marines in near-permanent rotation.
Australia is a major buyer for U.S. weapons systems and is one of the largest overseas customers for the Lockheed Martin manufactured F-35, as well as for Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet and associated weapons systems.
Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei was last year barred from bidding for construction contracts on a new Australian high-speed broadband network amid fears of cyber espionage.
Hacked: The New York Times office in Manhattan. The newspaper has reported that its computer system was breached by Chinese hackers
The Reserve Bank of Australia said in March that it had been targeted by cyber attacks, but no data had been lost or systems compromised amid reports the hackers had tried to access intelligence on Group of 20 wealthy nations negotiations.
China has dismissed the allegations by Australian media that Chinese hackers have stolen the blueprints for the new Australian spy headquarters.
Foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said: 'China pays high attention to cybersecurity issues, and is firmly apposed to all forms of hacker attacks. Groundless accusations will not help solve this issue.'
The risk of cyber hacking came to the forefront of the news agenda after Chinese hackers were accused of being responsible for hacking The Washington Post and The New York Times earlier this year.
And just last month, hacking attacks on the servers of South Korean broadcasters and banks originated from an IP address based in China.
But China says it is impossible to tell the true origin of cyber-attacks, and accuses hostile forces of blaming it out of prejudice or a desire to put Beijing on the defensive.
Under attack: The Washington Post spent most of 2012 trying to deal with Chinese hackers who infiltrated their computer network -
Serial Killer Locked in Cage by Mum=11yrs
The Mentally ill Killer forced to live Locked in a Cage for 11 years by his own mother over fears he will strike again in China- Wang Muxiang made the cage after her son was released
- In 2001, Wu Yuanhong beat to death a 13-year-old boy
The sickening story of how a mother has been forced to cage and shackle her mentally ill son in a homemade cage for 11 years has emerged from China.
The 74-year-old Wang Muxiang made the cage after her son Wu Yuanhong murdered a teenager in his village in Ruichang, Jiangxi Province, while reportedly suffering an episode of 'psychosis'.
In 2001, Wu beat to death a 13-year-old boy in the same village. He was released home a year later because he suffered from mental illness.
Wang Muxiang, 74, with her son Wu Yuanhong who has been caged at home for 11 years
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Shackled: Wu Yuanhong murdered a teenager in his village whiles reportedly suffering an episode of 'psychosis'
Mother Wang Muxiang tried to find someone who would weld her a strong cage for her son. The local blacksmiths refused out of fear the sick man may attack them in revenge if he escaped.
Wang Muxiang described how she was forced to build it herself.
'I wielded the cage while crying heavily. Although he suffers from mental illness and killed a person, he still is my son.
'Thinking I am making a cage to lock him in, my heart was broken.'
In 2001, Wu beat to death a 13-year-old boy in the same village. He was released home a year later because he suffered from mental illness
Mother Wang Muxiang tried to find someone who would weld her a strong cage for her son. The local blacksmiths refused out of fear the sick man may attack them in revenge if he escaped -
Most Terrifying Mountain to "Climb"
What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Tourists trek thousands of Feet up a Chinese Mountain along boards nailed together 700 YEARS AGO
Daily Mail UK, 29 May 2013
These vertigo-inducing pictures show tourists navigating an extremely narrow and treacherous walkway along cliffs at a scenic mountain in China's Shaanxi Province.
The precipitous Chang Kong Cliff Road on Haushan mountain was built more than 700 years ago by hermits seeking ‘immortals’ they thought were living deep in the mountains.
The walkway is only a foot width wide and has been built clinging to the absolutely vertical cliff. One misstep would send pilgrims plunging thousands of feet down into the valley.
These days, anyone brave enough to navigate the path does have to wear a special safety harness.
These vertigo-inducing pictures show tourists navigating an extremely narrow and treacherous walkway along cliffs at a scenic mountain in China's Shaanxi Province.
The precipitous Chang Kong Cliff Road on Haushan mountain was built more than 700 years ago by hermits seeking 'immortals' they thought were living deep in the mountains. The walkway is only a foot width wide and has been built clinging to the absolutely vertical cliff. One misstep would send pilgrims plunging thousands of feet down into the valley.
Perhaps its better not to see? A daredevil visitor to Huashan Mountain's Chang Kong Cliff Road walks the narrow pathway in a dense mist which obscures the background... and the lethal drop below
But what a view... A young woman poses for photographs along the walkway, which was built more than 700 years ago by hermits seeking ‘immortals’ they thought were living deep in the mountains
Look! No hands! A man trusts his life to the safety harness as he negotiates a section where the wooden walkway ends and the path continues cut out of the living rock of the mountain
Don't look down! The man in the red jacket breaks the cardinal rule of moutaineering. But even if he is afraid, there's no turning back: to avoid precarious congestion the Chang Kong route is strictly one way
Thank goodness for those safety ropes: The walkway is only a foot width wide and has been built clinging to the absolutely vertical cliff. One misstep would send visitors plunging thousands of feet down into the valley
Breathtaking: Huashan Mountain is part of the Qin Ling Range that divides northern and southern Shaanxi, and also China. It is one of China's Five Great Mountains, and has a long history of religious significance
Ancient: The road was built during the Yuan dynasty by a person named He Yuan Xi and his students and took them 40 years to complete. It was built as a route to a more peaceful place to practice their religious beliefs
Vertigo-inducing: Tourists cling to the safety chains as they make their way along the Chang Kong route
Tourists climb stairs to the narrow walkway: The route to conquer the peaks passes temples, shrines, pavilions, terraces, carvings, and statues interspersed between the granite paths and forested margins
Sacred place: Many visitors time their ascent to arrive at the peak to watch the spectacular sunrise
Danger: Tourists queue to make their way up the mountain. Despite the safety measures introduced by cutting deeper pathways and building up stone steps and wider paths, fatalities continue to occur on the mountain
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FBI Seizes Online Bank-Arrests Worldwide=$6 Billion Fraud
Online currency company founder indicted for largest money-laundering scam in history 'after website users carried out millions of criminal transactions worth $6 BILLION'
'Liberty Reserve became the bank of choice for the criminal underworld'
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara
Trouble ahead? The online currency network is similar to Bitcoin, which has garnered a large community- Arthur Budovsky, founder of Liberty Reserve, arrested in Spain on Friday
- Six others have also been charged in $6 billion money transfer scheme
- Liberty Reserve allowed users to convert money to online currency
- Transactions 'hid the proceeds of crimes including credit card fraud, child pornography, identity theft and drugs trafficking'
- U.S. Attorney: 'It was the bank of choice for the criminal underworld'
The founder of an internet company that allows users to convert money to an online currency has been indicted in the U.S. for a massive $6 billion money-laundering scheme - in what authorities have called the largest case of its kind in history.
Arthur Budovsky, the founder of Liberty Reserve, was arrested in Spain on Friday.
The Costa Rica-based company, which had more than one million users, allegedly helped hide 55 million illegal transactions across the world, authorities said today.
In total, seven people indicted for their alleged part in the cyber network, which authorities said was 'staggering' in scope. Budovsky's partner, Vladimir Kats, is in custody in New York.
Complex: Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, explains the global interests of Liberty Reserve during a news conference about the money-laundering arrests of its founders
U.S. shuts digital money system it suspects of criminal links
Budovsky's deputy, Azzedine El Amine was also arrested, as were two technology designers, Maxim Chukarev and Mark Marmilev.
Two more company employees were still at large in Costa Rica according to officials: Ahmed Yassine Abdelghani and Allan Esteban Hidalgo Jimenez.
The investigation involved law enforcement in 17 countries and 'is believed to be the largest money laundering prosecution in history,' the prosecutor's office said.
The suspects were indicted for allegedly facilitating millions of transactions that hid the proceeds of credit card fraud, identity theft, computer hacking, child pornography, narcotics trafficking and other crimes, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said on Tuesday.
The indictment calls the network 'one of the principal means by which cyber criminals around the world distribute, store and launder proceeds of their illegal activity'.
'The scope of the defendants' unlawful conduct is staggering,' it added.
Press conference: Mythili Raman, left, from the Dept. of Justice, accompanied by Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, speaks about the scheme on Tuesday
ONLINE CURRENCY AT LIBERTY RESERVE: HOW DID IT WORK?The indictment said Liberty Reserve did not collect any banking or transaction information from the third-party exchange companies. It also let its users hide their Liberty Exchange account numbers when making transactions, which offered another opportunity for the users to mask their true identities.Quote:Liberty Reserve was an online payment network that allowed users to convert dollars or euros into currency that could be exchanged on the internet.
According to the indictment, Liberty Reserve's currency unit was called the 'LR'. Users opened accounts at Liberty Reserve giving only a name, address and date of birth that the company made no attempt to verify.
Customers funded their Liberty Reserve accounts with payments from a bank wire, postal money order or other money transfers. It was then converted to LR.
Funds could then be transferred to or bought by another account holder via third-party exchange merchants. Each transaction cost $2.99.
Liberty Reserve allowed users to open accounts using fictitious names, including 'Russian Hacker' and 'Hacker Account.'
The company processed around 12 million financial transactions per year. Since it began operating in 2006, the indictment said, Liberty Reserve laundered over $6 billion in criminal proceeds.
Digital currency is made up of transferable units that can be exchanged for cash. Over the past decade, its use has expanded, attracting attention from the media and Wall Street.
The most widely known digital currency is called Bitcoin. Liberty Reserve's currency was not connected to Bitcoin.
In announcing the case on Tuesday afternoon, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the network 'became the bank of choice for the criminal underworld'.
Its digital currency service was designed to shield the identity of crooked users seeking to launder ill-gotten gains, he said.
'The coin of the realm was anonymity,' he said. 'It was the opposite of a know-your-customer policy.'
In a statement, Costa Rica police confirmed that Budovsky had been arrested in Spain on money laundering charges and that several premises linked to his company had been raided.
A notice pasted across Liberty Reserve's website last week said the domain 'has been seized by the United States Global Illicit Financial Team'.
Liberty Reserve's demise is likely to send a sharp shock across the Internet.
It allowed users to open accounts using fictitious names, including 'Russian Hacker' and 'Hacker Account.' The network charged a 1 per cent fee on transactions.
Budovsky and Katz have previous convictions on charges related to an unlicensed money-transmitting business, according to court papers.
After that case, the pair decided to move their operation to Costa Rica, where Budovsky officially renounced his U.S. citizenship, the papers say.
In an online chat captured by law enforcement, Katz admitted Liberty Reserve was 'illegal' and noted that authorities in the United States knew it was 'a money laundering operation that hackers use'.
Aditya Sood, a computer science doctoral candidate at Michigan State University who has studied the underground economy, described Liberty Reserve as a no-questions-asked alternative to the global banking system, with little more than a valid email needed to open an account and start moving money across borders.
Explanation: Bharara speaks beside a chart detailing the operation of the Costa Rica-based company
'You don't need to provide your full details, or personal information, or things like that,' Sood said. 'There's no way to trace an account. That's the beauty of the system.'
Liberty Reserve's ease of use also attracted a thriving community of tech-savvy users in countries with limited access to credit cards, said Mitchell Rossetti, whose Houston-based ePayCards.com was one of several mainstream merchants that accepted the online-only currency.
Rossetti said his business still had about $28,000 tied up in Liberty Reserve accounts. Liberty Reserve's irreversible transactions made it attractive to small merchants worried about fraud.
'The irony of this is I went to them because of the security,' Rossetti said. 'All sales were final.'
He acknowledged that the currency was being used by scammers, but said Liberty Reserve was just like any other currency. 'The U.S. dollar can be donated to a church or it can pay a prostitute,' he said.
Liberty Reserve appears to have played an important role in laundering the proceeds from the recent theft of some $45 million from two Middle Eastern banks, according to legal documents made public by U.S. authorities earlier this month.
The complaint against one of the Dominican Republic gang members allegedly involved in the theft states that thousands of dollars' worth of stolen cash was deposited into two Liberty Reserve accounts via currency centers based in Siberia and Singapore.
The Costa Rica police statement said that they raided three homes and five businesses linked to Liberty Reserve and seized papers and digital documents that will be turned over to U.S. authorities.__________________
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Memorial Day weekend tragedy as woman drowns and 100 are rescued after 10 inches of rain falls on San Antonio in just 8 hours
By Daily Mail UK, 25 May 2013
One woman, 29, has died after a massive Memorial Day weekend storm brought up to 10 inches of rain in San Antonio.
Massive flooding was reported on Saturday across South Texas as emergency crews scrambled to rescue one hundred residents in flood prone areas.
As many as 13,000 San Antonio residents were without power on Saturday morning but officials believe electricity has been restored to many, leaving 2,000 now without power.
Neighbors: Marco Fairchild, left, and Gary Garza, right, help Sueann Schaller from her car Saturday after she drove it into floodwaters in the Westwood Village neighborhood
Water: A bus is stranded in the water on Blanco Road near Basse during heavy rains in San Antonio after heavy ran began on Friday night
Widespread: The Olmos Basin Municipal Golf Course and Basse Road are underwater as a result of heavy rains in San Antonio on Saturday
Easy rider: Albert Rios holds a beer as he floats into the intersection of Castleridge Dr. and Crestfield Street in San Antonio
Safety: San Antonio mayor Julian Castro urged San Antonians to stay home
Life threatening: Torrential rains fell overnight and into the early morning hours on Saturday, triggering Flash Flood warnings across South Texas
Flash flooding: Massive flooding was reported on Saturday across South Texas as emergency crews scrambled to rescue residents in flood prone areas
Rain: A flood gauge shows waters just under 10 feet at an intersection on Saturday in San Antonio
Police say the woman who died was driving when waters rushed upon the road and washed her car away.
She tried to escape the vehicle and is believed to have been waiting on the roof of the car when she was swept away by the rising waters.
Her vehicle was found pushed against a drainage culture, KSAT-TV reported.
Officials from the local fire department said the woman, whose identity was not released, was dead when they arrived.
Rains began on Friday evening and have been falling at a rate of nearly 2 inches per hour for the past 8 hours.
Officials have closed numerous roadways across South Texas due to flash flooding.
Weather officials warned the heavy rain could be a 'life-threatening' situation similar to a 1998 flood - when two dozen people dead, according to the National Weather Service.
Public transit spokeswoman Priscilla Ingle told the NWS how firefighters used a boat to reach a public bus that had become stranded, rescuing three passengers and driver early on Saturday.
San Antonio Fire Department spokesman Christian Bove said 'since 5:25 this morning, we've received at least 70 calls just for water rescues. We're urging the public just to stay home and stay off the road.'
Downpour: A man photographs floodwaters caused by heavy rains
Damage: A San Antonio metro bus sits in floodwaters after it was swept off the road during heavy rains
Rescue: Three passengers and the bus driver were rescued and uninjured after this VIA bus was swept away
Waterway: San Antonio residents captured pictures of the rain waters flooding the streets
Aftermath: An estimated 10 inches of rain hit San Antonio on Saturday, leaving a pool in this Texas backyard
Unbelievable: A man surveys floodwaters caused by heavy rains in San Antonio
Another woman was found trapped in her car and was rescued by officials. She was transported to the hospital.
Local media reported another man, in the flood-prone Olmos Park area, was standing on the roof of a structure to escape the rising waters.
Firefighters managed to reach him in a rescue boat.
The National Weather Service extended the flash flood warning for Bexar Country and surrounding counties until 3:30pm on Saturday.
Road closures: Flood waters cover eight lanes of Highway 281 in San Antonio
Warning: The National Weather Service extended the flash flood warning for Bexar Country and surrounding counties until 3:30pm on Saturday
Heavy rain: This NOAA satellite image taken on Saturday shows rain clouds hovering over South Texas and the Midwest
Mayor Julian Castro urged San Antonians to stay home.
'Despite a break in the rain, many roads throughout the city continue to be impassable and dangerous. We ask San Antonians to please stay off the roads and stay at home,' he said.
'Just because it's not raining at the moment, does not mean that the threat has passed. If you must drive, observe all low-water crossings and use common sense.'
The San Antonio International Airport remained open on Saturday though spokesman Nora Castro told The San Antonio Express News many flights had been cancelled or were delayed.
Though Memorial Day weekend is typically a celebration of summer, many parts of the country will be experiencing unseasonably cold temperatures.
Forecasters have suggested parts of the Northeast, including parts of northern Maine, New York, New Hampshire and Vermont, could even experience snow. -
PHOTOs-Futuristic Sub Test-Dives into Deep=Fearful Moments
'I've had years to contemplate this moment, and I won't say there hasn't been dread': James Cameron relives his heart-stopping seven-mile descent into the abyss in sub just 43-inches wide
The Titanic director (right, inside the sub) reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific in his futuristic sub Deepsea Challenger (seen left dangling above the Mermaid Sapphire, and center during test dives) in 2012.
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James Cameron relives his heart-stopping descent to the deepest part of the ocean in submersible just 43-inches wide
Daily Mail UK 25 May 2013
Reliving the experience in the new issue of National Geographic, Cameron described being packed into the pilot's chamber 'like a walnut in its shell'. The film-maker admitted to moments of dread in the lead up to the dive, but said any apprehension gave way to 'childlike excitement' on the day of his descent.- Titanic director completed first solo dive to bottom of Mariana Trench beneath the western Pacific
- Described being packed into sub - which measures just 43-inches across - like a 'walnut in its shell'
- Reveals his dread in weeks before the attempt gave way to 'childlike excitement' on day of dive
He is no stranger to the power of the ocean, having made his name by recreating the sinking of the Titanic to spectacular effect.
But James Cameron has admitted to moments of dread in the lead up to his latest marine adventure - which saw him become the first lone human to reach the deepest realm of the Earth's oceans.
The director relives his record-breaking journey to the bottom of the Mariana Trench inside a '43-inch diameter steel ball' in next month's National Geographic magazine.
Murky depths: A panel of LED lights illuminates the ocean floor during a further test dive off the Ulithi Atoll in the Pacific
'Childlike excitement': The Titanic director, seen monitoring the systems inside the pilot's sphere, told National Geographic the sub felt 'snug and comforting'
After years of research, planning and preparation, Cameron completed the deepest solo dive ever made in his futuristic submersible Deepsea Challenger last year.
Seven miles beneath the surface of the western Pacific, the Mariana Trench is deeper than Mount Everest is high.
The director described the weeks spent imagining 'all the things that could go wrong' before the descent, but said that on the day of the dive his apprehension was replaced by 'childlike excitement'.
'The pilot’s chamber is a 43-inch-diameter steel ball, and I’m packed into it like a walnut in its shell' - Cameron recounts his historic dive
'...my knees pushed up in a hunched sitting position, my head pressed down by the curve of the hull. I’ll be locked in this position for the next eight hours.'
'I won’t say there hasn’t been dread in the past few weeks, thinking about all the things that could go wrong. But right now I feel surprisingly calm.'
'I am wrapped in the sub, a part of it and it a part of me, an extension of my ideas and dreams.'
'After weeks of pilot training, my hand goes to a specific control or switch without thinking. There’s no apprehension at this point, only determination to do what we came out here for, and childlike excitement for what’s ahead.'
The cramped pilot's chamber, into which he was crammed 'like a walnut in its shell', was not claustrophobic, but 'snug and comforting', Cameron writes in the magazine.
'I feel surprisingly calm. I am wrapped in the sub, a part of it and it a part of me, an extension of my ideas and dreams,' the director said of the day of the dive.
'As co-designer, I know its every function and foible intimately.
'There's no apprehension at this point, only determination to do what we came out here for, and childlike excitement for what's ahead.'
Cameron spent about three hours at the bottom of the ocean off the island of Guam, the deepest-known part of any ocean in the world.
He shot some 3-D video during the dive, but admitted afterwards it was difficult to see much in the murky depths from his vantage point inside Deepsea Challenger.
The futuristic electric green submersible was launched off the Mermaid Sapphire in the western Pacific in March 2012.
The Avatar director revealed he cut the mission three hours short after hydraulic fluid started leaking into his sub. The 57-year-old described it as ‘a heck of a ride.’
Cameron planned to spend seven hours under water but decided to head back up after spotting the leak.
‘I saw a lot of hydraulic oil come up in front of the port. The port was coated with it. I couldn’t pick anything up so I began to feel like it was a moment of diminishing returns to go on,’ he explained.
‘I lost a lot of thrusters. I lost the whole starboard side. That’s when I decided to come up. I couldn’t go any further - I was just spinning in a circle,’ he added.
‘It was bleak. It looked like the moon. I didn’t see a fish. I didn’t see anything that looked alive to me, other than a few shrimplike amphipods in the water.'
He also realised how alone he was, with that much water above him.
‘It's really the sense of isolation, more than anything, realising how tiny you are down in this big vast black unknown and unexplored place,’ Cameron said.
Cameron said he had hoped to see some strange deep sea monster like a creature that would excite the storyteller in him and seem like out of his movies, but he didn't.
He didn't see tracks of animals on the sea floor as he did when he dove more than five miles deep weeks ago. All he saw were voracious shrimp-like critters that weren't bigger than an inch.
But that was okay, he said, it was all about exploration, science and discovery. He is the only person to dive there solo, using a sub he helped design. He is the first person to reach that depth - 35,576 feet - since it was initially explored in 1960.
Cover star: The full article appears in the June issue of National Geographic
He spent more than three hours at the bottom, longer than the 20 minutes Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard spent in the only other visit 52 years ago. But it was less than the six hours he had hoped. He said he would return.
‘I see this as the beginning,’ Cameron said. ‘It's not a one-time deal and then moving on. This is the beginning of opening up this new frontier.’
‘To me, the story is in the people in their quest and curiosity and their attempt to understand,’ Cameron said.
His return aboard his 12-ton, lime-green sub called Deepsea Challenger was a ‘faster-than-expected 70-minute ascent,’ according to National Geographic, which sponsored the expedition. Cameron is a National Geographic explorer-in-residence.
The only thing that went wrong was the hydraulics on the system to collect rocks and critters to bring them back to land. Just as he was about to collect his first sample, a leak in the hydraulic fluid sprayed into the water and he couldn't bring anything back.
When Cameron climbed into his sub, it was warm because it was near the equator and his cramped vehicle - his head hit one end and his feet the other - was toasty because of the heat given off by electronics. It felt ‘like a sauna’ with temperatures of more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit, he said.
But as he plunged into the deep, the temperature outside the sub dropped to around 36 degrees, he said.
The pressure on the sub was immense - comparable to three SUVs resting on a toe. The super-strong sub shrank three inches under that pressure, Cameron said.
‘It's a very weird environment,’ Cameron said. ‘I can't say it's very comfortable. And you can't stretch out.’
Cameron gave two thumbs up when he triumphantly resurfaced.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, who appeared in Cameron's Terminator films, showed his support for the director via Twitter. 'Congrats to my great friend on the deepest solo dive ever. Always a pioneer'.
Richard Branson and Jessica Alba were just a couple of the other celebrities who got behind Cameron's journey.
The scale of the trench is hard to grasp - it is 120 times larger than the Grand Canyon and more than a mile deeper than Mount Everest is tall.
The film director has been an oceanography enthusiast since childhood and has made 72 deep-sea submersible dives.
Thirty-three of those dives have been to the wreckage of the Titanic, the subject of his 1997 hit film.
The following is an extract from the full article by James Cameron, which appears in the June issue of National Geographic:
Quote:The pilot’s chamber is a 43-inch-diameter steel ball, and I’m packed into it like a walnut in its shell, my knees pushed up in a hunched sitting position, my head pressed down by the curve of the hull. I’ll be locked in this position for the next eight hours. My bare feet rest on the 400-pound steel hatch, locked shut from the outside. I’m literally bolted in.
People always ask me if I get claustrophobic in the sub. To me it just feels snug and comforting. My visual field is filled by four video screens, three showing views from the external cameras, one a touch screen instrument panel.
The sub, painted electric green, is hanging upright in the swells like a vertical torpedo aimed at the center of the Earth. I tilt my 3-D camera, out on the end of its six-foot boom, to look up the face of the sub. The divers are getting into position to release the buoyant lift bag attached to the sub, holding it at the surface.
I’ve had years to contemplate this moment, and I won’t say there hasn’t been dread in the past few weeks, thinking about all the things that could go wrong. But right now I feel surprisingly calm. I am wrapped in the sub, a part of it and it a part of me, an extension of my ideas and dreams.
As co-designer, I know its every function and foible intimately. After weeks of pilot training, my hand goes to a specific control or switch without thinking. There’s no apprehension at this point, only determination to do what we came out here for, and childlike excitement for what’s ahead.
Challenge: Launched from the Mermaid Sapphire, the futuristic sub relies on 180 different systems, from battery packs to sonar
Into the blue: Director James Cameron took his futuristic submersible - christened Deepsea Challenger - for a test dive off Papua New Guinea to see if it could survive the crushing pressure at the depths of the ocean
Record: The director became the first person to reach the deepest point of the Earth's oceans alone in his Deepsea Challenger, seen on the Mermaid Sapphire
Success: James Cameron gives two thumbs-up as he emerges from the Deepsea Challenger today after his successful solo dive in the Mariana Trench
Cameron's dive took him to a part of the ocean no one has visited for 50 years - and he is the only human being to have travelled and returned solo
James Cameron emerging from the hatch of Deepsea Challenger - the tiny submarine the director will use to travel to the bottom of the Pacific's Mariana trench
Race is on: James Cameron's team tested the Deepsea Challenger in the ocean at Jervis Bay, south of Sydney, Australia before he set off
Moment of truth: Deepsea Challenger carrying Carmeron is hoisted into the Pacific Ocean on its way to the bottom of the Mariana Trench -
Five Undercover Police Cars Sent To Arrest Single Alleged Movie Pirate
May 25, 2013 Police assisted by the Federation Against Copyright Theft showed up in large numbers to arrest an alleged movie pirate in the UK this week. Armed with an emergency search warrant issued out of hours by a judge, five undercover police vehicles containing detectives and FACT officers were deployed to arrest a 24-year-old said to have recorded the movie Fast and Furious 6.
The MPAA-backed Federation Against Copyright Theft is well known for its anti-piracy actions around the UK, tracking down alleged movie pirates with the help of the police and hauling them, if at all possible, through the court system.
What remains remarkable about FACT operations is how they are able to persuade the police to invest significant resources towards detaining individuals for non-violent crimes. This week witnessed yet another example of that ability.
Five undercover cars containing 10 police officers and officers from the Federation Against Copyright Theft arrived at a property in the West Midlands at 07:30 Thursday morning.
After seizing numerous items including three servers, a desktop computer, blank hard drives and blank media, police detained the 24-year-old and transported him to a nearby police station. Despite the ‘emergency’ nature of the raid, no movie recording equipment was found. -
Ohio Doctor Accused of Raping, Injecting Pregnant Woman With Heroin
Published May 25, 2013
Associated Press
NEW ALBANY, Ohio – The personal ads that Dr. Ali Salim placed on Craigslist -- and police say he posted hundreds of them -- made one thing clear: He wanted "no drama."
He didn't always get his wish.
One woman told police she was accosted at Salim's house. Another said she was sexually assaulted. Another woman left after she said Salim insisted she pose in her underwear while he painted the digestive system on her abdomen.
The final drama, police and prosecutors say, occurred July 31 when Deanna Ballman, nine months pregnant with two young children at home, disappeared after answering one of Salim's ads. Ballman's body was found the next day in the backseat of her car on a country road a few miles from Salim's house.
After a six-month investigation, Salim was arrested in February and charged with kidnapping, raping and killing Ballman by injecting her with heroin, as well as killing her unborn child, to be named Mabel Lilly.
Salim has pleaded not guilty and is on house arrest on $1 million bond. His trial is scheduled for Sept. 3.
Ballman told her mother she was responding to a housecleaning ad. Investigators say that's not the whole story.
"That's not quite what we've found," said Delaware County Prosecutor Carol O'Brien.
Salim, 44, who is single, is originally from Pakistan where he earned his medical degree at King Edward Medical College at the University of the Punjab in 1993, according to Ohio medical board records. He did his residency at West Virginia University and worked most recently as an emergency room physician in Mt. Vernon, a small city in east-central Ohio.
The Ohio medical board has revoked Salim's license because of the criminal charges. He had no medical disciplinary cases as a doctor and no previous criminal record. He is a permanent U.S. resident with a green card.
Salim did well: He lived in a $305,000 house in New Albany, a tony Columbus suburb, and owned expensive cars, including a Porsche and Infiniti. He drove his vehicles fast: Records obtained by The Associated Press found at least 15 speeding tickets since 2000.
Salim's life was full of drama in the months before his encounter with Ballman, according to police records obtained by the AP, prosecutors' statements and interviews with Delaware County sheriff's investigators.
In September 2010, Salim told police his house had been burglarized with the help of a female heroin addict he'd been trying to help get treatment.
He refused to cooperate with investigators despite losing three TVs, two laptops, $500 in cash and credit cards, and the case was placed on inactive status, according to a Columbus police report.
In April 2011, a woman who answered one of Salim's Craigslist ads called 911 to report an assault at Salim's address. "I came to a gentleman's house, and he accosted me," she said.
Eight months later, in early December, aspiring model Gabrielle Roush answered what she thought was a legitimate modeling ad: $400 to let Salim paint the human digestive system on her abdomen for what he said was a work assignment.
But Roush, accompanied by her future father-in-law, turned down the job after Salim insisted she be in the house alone while he worked.
"He said, `As long as you don't cause drama, you can do this for me,"' recalled Roush, 21, a college student in Columbus, whose meeting with Salim and call to police came long before Ballman's death and Salim's arrest.
The following July, a woman was sexually assaulted at Salim's house, according to a report she filed with police a month later, after Ballman's death.
Ballman, 23, was a supply specialist with a National Guard military police unit in Colorado who had just moved back to Ohio after separating from her husband. She had her own apartment east of Columbus and was still trying to buy furniture for her children's bedrooms.
The family reported her missing July 31, telling police about the housecleaning ad. At 3:30 p.m. that day, Deanna Ballman called her mother, Lori Ballman.
"Deanna stated that she felt dizzy and did not feel well. Deanna then stopped talking. Lori stated a male with a foreign accent then got on the phone asking what he could do to help. The call was then lost," according to the missing-person's report.
Lori Ballman also told investigators she heard the sound of a woman's voice in the background speaking another language. Investigators say they've never located this person. O'Brien, the Delaware County prosecutor, says it's not clear how Deanna Ballman's car got to the country road.
Compounding the family's struggle, Ballman's 19-year-old brother, James, died in an accidental shooting in February. Deanna Ballman's children are in foster care in Colorado, her mother said. Ballman was a high school graduate and devoted mother who hoped eventually to go to college to be a dentist, her mother said.
Lori Ballman helped her daughter gather cleaning supplies the day she disappeared, but she believes now that was a cover story for something darker she can't quite bring herself to name.
"That's the only reason I can think she told me she was going housecleaning, because she was humiliated," Ballman said.
Investigators say only that Deanna Ballman answered a personal ad. A cursory review of Craigslist finds Salim was not alone in placing such ads, dozens of which, many of them suggestive, abound for the Columbus area. In one, on May 14, a married man said he was looking for a "discreet relationship." Another, the same day, was seeking "a woman who is pregnant and horny as hell."
Salim's lawyer goes a step farther and bluntly calls Ballman an "unfortunate victim" who died as a result of prostituting herself to feed a drug habit.
"Regrettably, she caused her own demise and Dr. Salim had nothing to do with it," said attorney Sam Shamansky.
The rape charge against Salim alleges he assaulted her knowing her ability to resist "was substantially impaired." Capt. Kevin Savage of the Delaware County Sheriff's Office says there's no evidence Ballman was a drug addict. But, like the prosecutor, he hints that Ballman's reasons for going to Salim's home have yet to come out.
"I don't think she knew she was going to be overdosed with heroin and subsequently die, but I think she knew what she was responding to," Savage said. -
San Antonio Flooding Kills 2, More Than 200 Rescued
Published May 26, 2013
Associated Press
May 25, 2013: A San Antonio metro bus sits in floodwaters after it was swept off the road during heavy rains in San Antonio.
SAN ANTONIO – Two women died after being swept away by floodwaters after weekend rains deluged numerous roads in San Antonio, forcing more than 235 rescues by emergency workers who aided stranded motorists and homeowners at times using inflatable boats.
At least one teenage boy also was reported missing after Saturday's torrential rains, carried away while trying to cross the swollen Cibolo Creek in the San Antonio suburb of Schertz, authorities said.
At the height of Saturday's torrential downpours, San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro urged residents not to drive as a flash flood warning covered nearly two dozen counties. Nearly 10 inches of rainfall was reported in a matter of hours Saturday at the city's airport.
The National Weather Service said the flash flood threat would persist until late Sunday morning though mostly cloudy weather with occasional thunderstorms and showers was expected to give way to partly sunny skies later in the day.
The rains left more than 200 residents of the Texas city stranded in cars and homes when water rose unexpectedly up to 4 feet in some spots. Traffic also was snarled, making driving difficult.
"It was pretty crazy," said Gera Hinojosa, a valet parking cars downtown after the storm. "It was pretty unexpected. We hardly got any warning about it."
One woman became trapped in her car and climbed to the roof before being swept away in floodwaters, said San Antonio Fire Department spokesman Christian Bove. Her body was later found against a fence, he said.
Emergency officials also recovered the body of a woman in her 60s who was swept away in her car while firefighters were trying to rescue her. Authorities did not immediately identify the women.
At nightfall, water still was pooling in many ditches and underpasses. Several roadways were closed, including a major highway linking the suburbs and the city. But even in low-lying neighborhoods along Commerce Street east of downtown San Antonio -- a faded stretch of clapboard houses and beauty parlors -- yards were clear. In the tourist district around the River Walk, the streets were thick with weekend holiday revelers.
While the water in some homes rose 4 feet high, according to Bove, most residents experienced the floods primarily as a major traffic hassle.
Karen Herring, 50, who spent the day volunteering at a fitness contest at the AT&T Center, said participants complained of three-hour drives across town.
In the city, even a municipal bus was swept away, but firefighters on a boat were able to pluck the three passengers and driver to safety, public transit spokeswoman Priscilla Ingle said. Nobody was injured.
The San Antonio International Airport by Saturday afternoon had recorded 9.87 inches of rain since midnight, causing nearly all streams and rivers to experience extraordinary flooding. The highest amount of rainfall recorded since midnight was 15.5 inches at Olmos Creek at Dresden Drive.
The San Antonio River about 20 miles southeast of the city, near Elmendorf, was expected to peak at 62 feet by Sunday morning, well above the flood stage of 35 feet, the National Weather Service said.
The National Weather Service compared the flooding to the storm of October 1998, when 30 inches of rain fell in a two-day period. In that flood, the Guadalupe and San Antonio River basins overflowed, leaving more than 30 people dead, according to the Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority. -
Ghost Ship' goes Missing in Atlantic-en route to Dominican Republic
'Ghost Ship' goes Missing in the Atlantic Four Months after it Snapped Loose from Dock where it was Going to be Scrapped- The MV Lyubov Orlova vanished en route to Dominican Republic in January
- Set sail from Canada to be scrapped when towing cable snapped
- Boat was cast adrift and was being tracked by US intelligence officials
- But not seen since March and there are fears it has sunk and is leaking toxins into ocean
A rat-infested and toxic Russian cruise ship cast adrift in the Atlantic Ocean has apparently vanished.
The MV Lyubov Orlova - named after a Soviet actress - broke free in January when it was being tugged to be scrapped.
It was being tracked by US intelligence officials but has not been seen since March and there are fears it has sunk.
Sunk without trace: The MV Lyubov Orlova has been missing since January and is now presumed to be at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean
The luxury liner was being towed to the Dominican Republic from Newfoundland, Canada, when it slipped away as the crew on board the towing ship battled howling winds and 10ft waves to try in vain to reconnect the towing line.
The so-called 'ghost ship' was located briefly in February as it floated aimlessly about 500 miles off the coast of Ireland.
Then, in March, the Canadian Coast Guard reported that one of the ship's emergency radio beacons, which activate after hitting the water or another object, flashed a location almost 800 miles off Newfoundland, according to the Vancouver Sun.
With no further sightings, some are speculating the ship has sunk.
There are fears the vessel could be leaking toxic fluids into the water, according to French environmental organization Robin du Bois.
'In case of a collision or sinking or any accident, the Lyubov Orlova will immediately release fuel,other toxic liquids, asbestos, mercury and other non-degradable floating waste,' the group declared in a statement, according to LiveScience.
There has been confusion about which country is responsible for the 37-year-old luxury liner.
Off-course: The mysterious ship has been sighted 1,300 nautical miles from Ireland's west coast
Canada's transport authority has said the abandoned ship is no longer its concern as the vessel has left the country's waters, with officials insisting the owner of the Orlova is responsible for its movements.
Court records obtained by the Globe and Mail newspaper show the vessel is owned by Hussein Humayuni, the owner of Neptune International Shipping Inc.
Now home only to rats, the 1976-built ship once carried passengers on Antarctic cruises.
The ship was seized by authorities in Newfoundland in 2010 amid spiraling debts owed to charter firm Cruise North Expeditions after faults on board meant a scheduled cruise had to be cancelled.
She is understood to have been sold to Neptune International Shipping in February last year to be broken up.
A supply vessel called the Atlantic Hawk was able to reconnect to the Orlova a short time later, only to have the cable fail again.
The ghostly liner was not seen again until about a month later, when a was spotted 1,300 nautical miles from Ireland's west coast. -
Who Said Dogs Can't Fly? (10 Pics)
Just a little photo set for you today. Hope this has you thinking about 1) how much you love your dog 2) how flying dogs just look so cool 3) that nothing is impossible. My dog Buddy holds a very special place in my heart. Sam and I got him when he was but a wee little puppy. He's now grown into a huge bear, furry and messy, weighing over 110 lbs. I can still imagine him as a young puppy, jumping and skipping around the UCLA campus where we used to take him on midnight walks.
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The Cutest Puppies in the World (18 photos)
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Perfectly Timed Photos Make Us Appreciate Common Animals2nd Place Winner: Licking Fox
Winners of The Mammal Society's Photographer of the Year competition were just announced and they include photographers who took some incredibly amazing shots of ordinary animals captured at perfectly timed moments. There were 370 total submissions and out of those a photo of a brown rat, shot by Roy Rimmer, took home the top prize. Of course, this was no ordinary rat photo. Rimmer, of Wigan, Greater Manchester, caught the stunned rat frozen in mid-air as it was jumping from one rusty paint can to another. Said one of the judges, wildlife photographer Kate MacRae, “This image quite literally ‘leapt’ out at me when I first saw it. Often misunderstood and unfairly depicted, I loved the unique energy in this capture.”
The second place winner was Julie Milne from South East England who won the judges hearts (and ours) with a photo of a fox licking a window. Milne has a fox den in her garden and she was able to capture one of the female cubs in a sweet and humorous way.
The goal of the competition was to help us appreciate the common species that live all around us. By showcasing them in an unusual or extraordinary way, it hoped to encourage us to look at mammals with a renewed sense of respect and admiration. (Mission accomplished!)
Above photo by Julie Milne
1st Place Winner: Jumping Rat
Photo by Roy Rimmer3rd Place Winner: Wood Mouse with Blackberry
Photo by Gary Cox
Play-fighting Stoats
Photo by Joel WalleyWater Vole
Photo by Julie MilneGray Seals Laughing
Photo by Jason Parnell-BrooksFox with Lunch
Photo by David GibbonLeaping Squirrel
Photo by Austin ThomasSurfing Seal
Photo by Tim HuntWeasel Chasing Sparrows
Photo by Harry MartinUrban Fox
Photo by Ian WadeOh No, You Got Me!
Photo by Kate Williamson -
Meet the Cutest Kitten in the World's Partner in Crime
When we first came across Daisy, we proudly declared her "The Cutest Little Kitten in the World." There's no denying her cuteness, the way she plays the piano, hides in bowls and sweetly gazes at bubbles make her undeniably adorable. Ben Torode, her proud owner, gave us a wonderful glimpse into her world telling us in this interview, "Daisy doesn't like to be held or even petted that much, but she HATES to be alone. Her happiest time (apart from eating) is joining us on the bed. She just likes to be near us and that's when she'll purr like crazy."You may not know it but Daisy has a partner in crime! Yes, Torode got Daisy in May 2012 and then Hannah just three months later. "Daisy was having trouble understanding how hard to bite or scratch us (way too hard) and we wanted to get her a sister so she could learn to play properly, because when they get bitten they learn how much is too much," Torode tell us.
Daisy
HannahDid they get along? "The first week all they did was fight, often cat sumo style but now it's just the occasional play fight. I think this was the first time they seemed to be okay just sitting next to one another. As the days have gotten cooler they seem to have gravitated towards one another, and when they get scared of something like yesterday's earthquake they huddle together.
Just two months apart in age, Daisy and Hannah seem to fight and play like true sisters. Though you may not guess it from the pictures, they're personalities are actually very different. "Daisy is definitely more chilled and cautious," says Torode. "When we play with her, her favorite thing is to hide in a box and attack from concealment and once she gets hold of a toy she doesn't let go and retreats to the nearest lair she can find to bite it more.
"Hannah, on the other hand, is more of a traditional cat. Extremely athletic, an avid climber, and she just loves getting into the tiniest of places. Her idea of playing is us throwing things way above her and her jumping to pluck them out of the air (see super awesome
When asked what he hopes everyone gets out of these photos, Torode told us this, "For the people who watch my Flickr and Blipfoto streams, it seems the most interesting thing has been seeing these two cats slowly become accustomed to one another despite their very different traits. I'm glad we got two very different cats and I'm just happy to share the joy of owning them in a visual way." -
Tilt - Romain Laurent (7 photos)
Have you ever felt like the world seemed slightly tilted? French photographer, Romain Laurent sure has. Makes me wonder how he was able to pull off these shots...
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Believable Relationship Scenes Constructed in Photoshop
While at first glance these photos just look like two people captured in public and private moments, look a little closer and you'll notice that the subjects are identical looking. Twins, perhaps? Not quite. Photographer Kelli Connell takes two or more photos and manipulates them together to create believable relationship scenes. One, single model acts out two different parts, reconstructing private relationships that the photographer has experienced, witnessed or seen on television.That means that these events never really occurred. Instead, one is asked to see themselves in both roles. “By digitally creating a photograph that is a composite of multiple negatives of the same model in one setting,” Connell writes in an artist’s statement, “the self is exposed as not a solidified being in reality, but as a representation of social and interior investigations that happen within the mind.” Fascinating.
Her series, titled Double Life, is on view at Photo-eye Gallery through June 30, 2012.
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New Incredible Deep Sea Photo Gallery by Andreas Franke
Austrian photographer and deep sea diving enthusiast Andreas Franke has released a new series titled Stavronikita Project: The Life Above Refined Below being exhibited deep at the bottom of the Caribbean right off the coast of Barbados. It was less than two years ago that the adventurous photographer first introduced his idea of an underwater gallery, at 130 ft. deep, with his photography affixed to the sunken USS General Hoyt S. Vandenberg ship. This new exhibit, though similar in its approach, offers a new set of surreal images to view by diving undersea.Franke's latest project explores the decadent lifestyle of the wealthy during the Rococo era as it is juxtaposed with the decaying freight ship and swarming marine life as its backdrop. The Viennese artist uses images of his models imitating the period of opulent abundance as a contrasting visual to his deep sea captures of the SS Stavronikita, creating an intriguing image rich with interpretation. Like his previous work, Stavronikita is on display underwater, behind a plane of plexiglas, sealed in with silicone and a steel frame and attached to the ship with strong magnets. The exhibit can currently be seen, at a depth of 80 ft., through April 2013.
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6 Most Stunning Actress Transformations
Disclosure: This post is part of an upcoming sponsorship with the movie The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
While we’re all used to seeing Hollywood actresses dolled up for red carpet events like the Oscars or the Golden Globes, we’re more amazed when they leave all that glitz and glamour behind to transform themselves into something completely different. Today, we’ve compiled a list of modern-day actresses who have done just that. While in some cases they’ve endured hours in the make-up chair, other times they’ve taken drastic, highly disciplined steps to morph right in front of our very eyes. Here, then, is our list of the six most stunning actress transformations from recent and upcoming movies.Rooney Mora as Lisbeth (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
How does a seemingly sweet girl who was last seen as Mark Zuckerberg's pretty, quick-witted girlfriend in The Social Network, show that she can play a androgynous, bisexual computer hacker? Better yet, how do you beat out A-list actresses like Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson for the role in David Fincher's latest movie? You not only show the director that you can handle a highly charged rape scene, you dramatically alter your appearance. To prepare for the role of Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, actress Rooney Mara had her lip, brow, nose, and nipple pierced, her eyebrows bleached and her hair chopped. The movie gets released on December 21.)Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe (My Week with Marilyn)
The recently released film My Week with Marilyn is already getting 31-year-old actress Michelle Williams rave reviews for her amazingly realistic portrayal of the blond bombshell. Williams told Vogue that to prepare for the role, she started putting on weight, but it changed the way her face looked. Instead, she decided to stay slim and wear hip padding. She explained: “So at some point it became a question of, Do I want my face to look like Marilyn Monroe’s or my hips?” To get all of the subtle nuances of Marilyn down, she would research the legendary actress to no end. “I’d go to bed every night with a stack of books next to me,” she said. “And I’d fall asleep to movies of her. It was like when you were a kid and you’d put a book under your pillow hoping you’d get it by osmosis.”Angelina Jolie as Mariane Pearl (A Mighty Heart)
Born to a Dutch father and a Cuban mother of Afro-Chinese-Cuban descent, Mariane Pearl is a mixed-race journalist who is the widow of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in Pakistan in early 2002. To everyone's surprise, Angelina Jolie was cast into this role. Although it drew criticism within the African American community, Jolie's performance was widely praised by top critics as her finest artistic achievement to date. Interestingly, it was Pearl who personally chose Jolie to play the lead. In response to casting complaints, Pearl said "I have heard some criticism about her casting, but it is not about the color of your skin. It is about who you are. I asked her to play the role—even though she is way more beautiful than I am—because I felt a real kinship to her. She put her whole heart into it, and I think she understood why we should do this movie. We had something to say that we knew we should say together."Rebecca Romijn as Mystique (X-Men, X2)
Talk about patience. For her most recognizable role to date, model turned actress Rebecca Romijn Stamos had to endure eight to nine hours in the make-up chair for the original X-Men movie. Her transformation involved four women putting nearly 100 individual prosthetic pieces, made of silicon, over her otherwise naked body. The grueling make-up process did ease up for X2, with the time cut nearly in half. "We're not using the same kind of paint. We're not using the same kind of glue," she told Comics Continuum. "They've completely changed the process and they've gotten down to under four hours now, which is huge for me.”Helena Bonham Carter as Red Queen (Alice in Wonderland)
To play The Red Queen, Helena Bonham Carter had to endure two and a half hours in the makeup department on the set of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Her head, however, was blown up to twice the size of what is normal in post-production. The enormous head was masterminded by the visual effects team from Sony Pictures Imageworks. A green screen stage and a special, high resolution camera were used to create the wickedly cool effect. “The queen’s head was something we had to be careful to account for all the time,” visual-effects supervisor Ken Ralston said. “We had to remind people to back away from Helena in their scenes to give her head enough room.”Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers (Black Swan)
To transform herself into a believable ballerina, actress Natalie Portman trained for months with former professional ballerina Mary Helen Bowers for up to eight hours a day with only one day off a week. She also lost 20 pounds off her already petite frame. Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky asked her to shed the weight so she could look ballerina-thin. "Darren said to me before the film, 'How much weight do you think you can lose without getting sick?'” Luckily, her amazing transformation was all worth it as Natalie Portman won the Academy Award, the Golden Globe Award, the Screen Actors Guild Award, and the BAFTA Award for her riveting performance of Nina Sayers in Black Swan.
Frozen fruit mix suspected in hepatitis A outbreak
in World News
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Frozen fruit mix suspected in hepatitis A outbreak
A frozen fruit mix commonly used in smoothies is suspected in a hepatitis A outbreak that has affected five Western states, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
SATURDAY, 01 JUNE 2013 21:18
Thirty people have been infected with acute hepatitis A, and nine of them have been hospitalized. Infections have been reported in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico, the CDC websitesaid Friday.
Eleven of 17 ill people interviewed reported eating Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Blend, a mix of frozen berries andpomegranate seeds.